Dominic Scelzi Charges to Top 10 During 360 Knoxville Nationals

Inside Line Promotions – OSKALOOSA, Iowa (Aug. 7, 2018) – Dominic Scelzi recorded a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend during the 28th annual 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank.

Scelzi kicked off the marquee event at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, on Thursday by qualifying 12th quickest out of 43 drivers after a mechanical problem early in the night prevented him from competing in hot laps. He then placed fifth in a heat race before rallying from sixth to second place in the B Main to transfer into the back of the main event.

“The start of the night didn’t go as planned with the problem in hot laps and then not transferring through the heat,” he said. “However, we’ve driven from the back into the top 10 many times at Knoxville so I wasn’t concerned.”

Scelzi powered from 22nd to a seventh-place finish during the 20-lap main event. Here is a link to watch the race: https://youtu.be/RZ675DUxcpQ.

Scelzi’s performance earned enough preliminary night points to lock into the 19th starting position for Saturday’s A Main.

“It was a big deal to make the 360 Knoxville Nationals main event and then to lock in after the start we had on Thursday was huge,” he said. “Once again we knew we were starting toward the back of the pack, but we’ve driven up through there before and we didn’t think Saturday would be any different.”

Scelzi had another excellent race car during Saturday’s 25-lap main event. He charged from 19th to just outside the top five before the track took a bit of rubber on the bottom in the closing laps and he dropped to a ninth-place result. Scelzi was tied for the second-most cars passed during the race.

“A couple of guys found the rubber before we did so we lost some ground there, but it was a big accomplishment to earn our first top 10 during the 360 Knoxville Nationals,” he said. “I want to thank my guys for their hard work. To finish ninth out of 90-plus drivers was a credit to our team’s focus and effort.”

Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/G8XGmO9kt6Q.

The team returned to the half-mile oval on Sunday for the 7th annual Weld Racing Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank, which featured more than 65 other competitors. Scelzi qualified 17th quickest in his group and placed sixth in a heat race before maneuvering from eighth to fourth place in a B Main. That was one position shy of transferring into the main event.

“Qualifying put us behind the eight ball,” he said. “When you’re racing with this caliber of competition you have to be on point every time you hit the track. That will be a huge focus of ours going into the Knoxville Nationals this week.”

Scelzi also competed on Monday at Southern Iowa Speedway during the Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting . He qualified 25th quickest, but was unable to finish a heat race or start the B Main because of a mechanical problem.

The team will return to action during the 58th annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores this Wednesday t